Pencil sharpener



1952 F. SWINEHART PENCIL SHARPENER Filed April 1'3, 1949 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Jan. 29, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PENCIL SHARPENER Frank Swinehart, Strongsville, Ohio Application April 13, 1949, Serial No. 87,237

I 8 Claims. I 1

This invention pertains to sharpeners for sharpening crayons or the like.

. Briefly, in one embodiment, the invention comprises a flat base member having an opening through it with a tubular crayon guide member connected to the base for directing the tip of the crayon to be sharpened toward the opening and substantially in the plane of the base member. Blade portion means having a cutting edge is connected to the base member on the side of the opening opposite the guide member so that the guide member directs the crayon into engagement with the cutting edge of the blade.

In another embodiment, cutter means are provided. near the end of the guide member for severing a portion of the paper which is wrapped about the crayon.

An object of the invention is to provide a new and ,novel sharpening device which is particularly adapted for sharpening crayons or other soft wax-like devices which are bound by paper or the like to keep them from breaking 7 Another object-of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive device for sharpening a crayon or the like and for removing a short section of the paper or the like wrapped about the crayon.

For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and further objects thereof, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, I Fig. l is an. isometric view of the sharpener device with a crayon in position to be sharpened;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along line 3--3 of Fig. l and showing the cutter portion in detail; and

Fig- 4 is a sectional view somewhat similar to Fig. 3 but showing the cutter portion in actual cutting position.

With reference tothe' drawings, the crayon sharpener device comprises a flat and relatively thin base member ID having an opening H extending through it. A crayon guide member I2 is secured to the base member at such a location that it guides the tip of the crayon l3 to be sharpened toward the opening H in the base member ID and preferably, though not necessarily, substantially in the plane of the base member In.

Connected to the base member In and preferably integral with it is a blade portion means |5 for sharpeningthe crayon l3. The blade portion means |5 shown has two blade portions l5 and I1 each with its own cutting edge and each lying substantially in the plane of the base member Hi. It is to be understood, however, that a blade portion means l5 having only one cutting edge maybe utilized, and-also that more than two cutting edges may be used. It is also within the scope of this invention that the cutting edge or edges need not necessarily lie in the plane of the base. The blade portion means I5 is within the opening I I through the base I I! and is located on the side of said opening opposite to the guide member l2 so that as the crayon I3 is pushed through the guide member the tip of the crayon comes into contact with the cutting edge of the blade portion means IE.

it is preferable to have two blade portions I6 and I! connected to the base l0 substantially adjacent each other and with the cutting edges diverging outwardly from each other toward the crayon guide member I2. They thus devise a V-shaped opening into the open end of which the tip of the crayon l3 fits when it is being sharpened. The angle of the V is not critical. However, it should be wide enough to give the crayon a point which is strong. Too narrow a V will produce a long slim tapering'point on the crayon which is easierto break. The outerpoints 2|, 22 of the two blade portions I6, ll are preferably spaced apart from each other a distance just slightly less than the diameter of the paper 23 which usually is wrapped around a crayon to strengthen it. As the tip of the crayon is pushed into the V between thetwo blade portions I6, I! the points 2|, 22 of the 'two blade portions will enter between the soft wax portion of the crayon and the paper covering 23. The back or non-cutting edges 25, 26 of the blade portions I6, I! diverge away from each other in a direction outwardly from the base but preferably at a much smaller angle than the angle forme'dby the front or cutting edge thereof. Thus the paper covering on the crayon is not split but is merely held tight by the blade tips 2|, 22.

The crayon I3 is then rotated by the operator while held against the blade portions l6, IT with a slight amount of pressure. This removes material from the crayon and puts a fresh, uniform tip on the crayon.

Cutter means, identified generally by the reference character 30, are provided for severing from the crayon |3 a short section of the paper 23. The cutter means 30 comprises a spring 3| one end of which is soldered or otherwise secured to the base In and a sharp blade 32 connected to the other end of the spring 3| and located adjacent the inner end of the tubular crayon guide I2. 7

As illustrated, the spring 3| exerts a bias force holding the sharp blade 32 down against the paper 23 around the crayon. The blade 32, as shown by Figs. 3 and 4, is located above the axis of the crayon. In this position as the crayon is rotated in a clockwise direction with respect to the base, as shown by the arrow in Fig. 3, the blade 32 rides on the surface of the paper 23 and does not cut in appreciably. However, when the crayon is rotated counterclockwise, as shown by the arrow in Fig. 4, the blade digs into and severs and to the side of the central axis by an amount just slightly less than the radius of the paper the blade severs substantially only the paper 23 and does not cutinto the center or soft part of the crayon.

It is not essential to sharpen the crayon by turning it in one direction and to then reverse the direction of rotation to sever the paper. It is deemed obvious in view of this disclosure that the spring 3| and blade 32 can be positioned to sever the paper23 simultaneously as the crayon is rotated to sharpen its point.

It is also within the scope of the invention for the operator to utilize a finger to bias the blade 32 against the crayon when he desires to sever the paper.

While there have been described what are at present considered to be the preferred embodiments of this invention, it will be obvious to blade portion means diverging away from each and having a sharp point, a guide member connected to said base for directing a crayon toward said blade, and paper cutter means connected to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention and it is, therefore, aimed in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claime dis:

1. A sharpening device for crayons or the like comprising: a single fiat substantially planar base member having an opening extending transversely therethrough, a tubular crayon guide member whose axis lies in the plane of said base member connected to said base member for directing the tip of a crayon to be sharpened toward said opening, and blade portion means having a cutting edge connected to said base member on the side of said opening opposite said guide member whereby said guide member di I said base member near the said guide member for severing the paper around said crayon as said crayon is turned with respect to said base while in contact with said blade.

5. A sharpening device for crayons or the like comprising: a base, a blade connected to said base and having a sharp point, a guide member connected to said base'for directing a crayon toward said blade, the sharp point of said blade being closest to said guidemember and the cutting edge of said blade'being at an angle to the axis of the crayon as the crayon is in position to be sharpened, the sharp point of said blade being so positioned with respect to said guide member that as a crayon is pushed thro'ughthe guide member toward said blade the sharp point of the blade enters between the paper covering and the crayon, and paper cutter means connected to said base member near the said guide member for severing the paper around said crayon as said crayon is turned with respect to said'bas while in contact with said blade.

6 A sharpening device as set forth in claim 5. further characterized by the back or non-cutting edge of said blade sloping from said sharp point toward the axis of said crayon as the crayon is in sharpening position.

7. A sharpening device as set forth in claim 6,

7 further characterized by spring means mounting said paper cutter means to said base and biasing said cutter means away from said base.

8. A sharpening device as set forth in claim 7, further characterized by means connected to said base for engaging said cutter means to limit the motion of said cutter means with respect to said crayon to cause said cutter means to cut substantially only the paper around said crayon.

V v FRANK SWINEHART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe file of this patent: V

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

